Marin reservoirs were spilling Monday after a weekend deluge that dumped 20.86 inches on Mount Tamalpais, the wettest spot in the Bay Area.

With 5.72 inches recorded at Lake Lagunitas in the 24 hours ending Sunday morning, the lake as well as Phoenix and Bon Tempe reservoirs were overflowing, funneling water into Alpine Lake.

In addition, a group of hikers had to be rescued Sunday afternoon from a trail near Alpine Lake after a footbridge washed out. The Marin Sheriff's Office search-and-rescue team responded to a report of about 10 hikers who were stranded at about 2:50 p.m., Lt. Doug Pittman said.

Heavy rain had washed out a footbridge that the hikers needed to use to get off the mountain, Pittman said.

The storm added 3,967 acre-feet of water to Marin Municipal Water District's supply in one day, district spokeswoman Libby Pischel reported Sunday afternoon, adding that weekend storm totals were not immediately available.

District lakes were about half full at 43,000 acre-feet before the storm system moved in, and officials had warned water rationing requiring a 25 percent cutback would begin April 1 if capacity dipped to 40,000 acre-feet.

But it was a deluge in the middle of a drought, and provided just "a couple drops in the bucket" needed to fill a statewide "water deficit," the National Weather Service reported.

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"This was no drought-buster," federal forecaster Steve Anderson said. "We are still in a drought." Anderson said Mount Tamalpais recorded the most rainfall in the region from the four-day subtropic "atmospheric river," but Cazadero in western Sonoma County was about a half inch behind at 20.17 inches.

The rain generated little damage across the county but may have been a factor in several accidents, including a Jeep that plunged down a Mill Valley hill Sunday. No one was in the vehicle when it was found about 10 a.m. Sunday near Greenwood Way, but a man's body was discovered in the area. In another accident, a motorist was seriously injured when he collided with another vehicle on the Highway 101 overcrossing in central San Rafael about 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Elsewhere, trees toppled in Fairfax and on Nicasio Valley Road, parking lots flooded in Muir Beach and Stinson Beach, and in Mill Valley, Joe's Taco Lounge and the 2 a.m. Club were closed due to flooding on Miller Avenue. Flooding in Stinson Beach threatened the Parkside Cafe, but firefighters saved the day with sandbags, and the cafe opened for business at 7:30 a.m. Monday.

"Yesterday was crazy," said Mill Valley firefighter Zack Sweeny, but phone lines quieted as the storm passed, allowing the crew to sleep. In Homestead Valley, a mudslide on North Ferndale Avenue created a mess but no significant damage, firefighter Larry Yoell reported.

And from the perspective of Woodacre dispatcher Janet Sinnicks, "it was pretty mellow ... with not a lot of damage" despite the deluge.